Scientists will begin a year-long trek to the North Pole in 2019 to study the rapidly changing climate patterns and melting ice.

Under the guidance of Mosaic (Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate,) the expedition will be the first since 1893 when Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen's attempted to reach the pole using the natural drift of the polar ice.

The mission will cost an estimated $52m and will involve 50 institutions from 14 countries including the UK, US and Russia.

Some main goals of the mission include investigating how the rapid warming in the Arctic is altering the polar vortex, investigating life in melt ponds, and support sea ice forecasting and climate predictions.

"The plan is to travel in summer 2019, when sea ice is thin and its extent is much smaller. We can make our way with our icebreaker Polarstern into the thin sea ice to the Siberian sector of the Arctic. Then we stop the engines and let the Polarstern drift with the sea ice," says Rex.

The Arctic sea-ice was the lowest ever recorded in January, with temperatures several degrees above the long-term average. Weather changes in the Arctic have a major impact on weather in northern Europe and North America yet the reasons and causes are not well understood.